Chapter 2108: Conspiracy in Motion
Meanwhile, in the human capital, the sun had just set and the city gates were tightly shut. However, the entire city was still bright from all the lanterns that were lit. The reputation of the world’s most prosperous city was well-earned.
Unlike the bustling city, the Imperial Palace was much more peaceful. After all, an important location like the Imperial Palace had a lot of established rules that needed to be followed after nightfall, and it was heavily guarded.
However, the emperor’s personal palace was brightly lit. Inside, Fatty Zhao Ruizhi yawned lazily, his leg casually propped up on the imperial throne. He shoved some pastries next to him into his mouth, then held up a bowl of tea, draining it in one gulp before asking, “Imperial uncles, why are you looking for this emperor? Please tell me quickly if there's something you have to say. I still want to play.”
Two middle-aged men were standing opposite from him. They were both dressed in palace commander uniforms. One was Zhao Si, and the other was Zhao Tai. Their father was King Yi, Zhao Huang. Zhao Huang was the East Defense General, so the prestige of his position was equivalent to that of the three ministers, making him an extremely respected individual from the royal family.
For the sake of loyalty, the Palace Guards often awarded medals and achievements to the children of the royal family. That was how these two brothers had become commanders. Additionally, because Zhao Huang was Zhao Han’s uncle, these two were now also considered Zhao Ruizhi’s uncles.
They watched as Zhao Ruizhi sat in a slovenly manner, his messy eating sending quite a bit of food everywhere. He really didn’t resemble a ruler at all. Even so, the two definitely didn’t come to advise the emperor on his etiquette. They quickly said, “We have confidential intelligence to inform your highness about. We must trouble your majesty to dismiss all other personnel.” Afterward, they looked at the eunuchs and maids around them with troubled expressions.
“How brazen! You are already visiting his majesty so late in the evening! How could we let his majesty stay with you two alone?!” the eunuch behind Zhao Ruizhi exclaimed. He had followed Zhao Ruizhi ever since he was the crown prince all the way until now. His status had now climbed greatly as a result. Everyone had called him Little Xu, but now, who wouldn’t dare to call him Eunuch Xu? He knew clearly where all of this honor came from, so he naturally cared about Zhao Ruizhi’s safety. After all, he wasn’t... a normal person and didn’t have much ability to protect himself.
A guard leader by the entrance said, “I’ll stay behind to protect his majesty. No one will be able to injure him.”
The emperor’s personal bodyguards were called the Tiger Guardians, while the leader of the Tiger Guardians was King Guangling, Zhao Yuan. Beneath him were the palace commanders and officials. This person was the palace official Li Guanshi. With Zhao Yuan’s status, there was naturally no way he could stay beside the emperor every waking second, which was why it was almost always Li Guanshi who led the Imperial Guards in watching over Zhao Ruizhi’s safety. His cultivation was high, and he was extremely reliable in his work.
When he heard that, Eunuch Xu didn’t say anything else and left with the others.
After the eunuchs and the maids left, Zhao Ruizhi asked in annoyance, “Just what is it? Hurry up and spit it out already.”
Zhao Si and Zhao Tai both kneeled down on the ground and said, “Your majesty, the Imperial Tutor and War Chariot General from the Liu clan have colluded with the regent, allying with the Fiend races. They are plotting treason!”
“Huh?” Zhao Ruizhi had just picked up another pastry and was going to bite down, but when he heard that, he was completely stunned. No matter how stupid he was, this information was just too explosive, right? He said, “That’s impossible! The imperial tutor is the empress dowager’s senior and is extremely loyal to this emperor. Also, the regent is this emperor’s master, so why would he ever rebel?”
“This matter is absolutely true! News arrived from the Fiend races that something happened in the sealed land and they needed our reinforcements. The regent and Liu brothers supported the deployment of reinforcements for the Fiend races, and yet shortly after, our reinforcement army was ambushed in the Fiend races' territory. That great army of elite soldiers was completely wiped out!” Zhao Si hurriedly said.
Zhao Tai also echoed what his brother said. “That’s right! Right now, all of the information from the Fiend races' sealed land comes from Zu An alone, and he is the Fiend races’ regent as well. By colluding with the Fiend races’ Second Empress, he clearly wishes to use this chance to eliminate the remaining forces of our human race so there will be no more hindrances to the Fiend races’ future invasion.”
“And the Liu clan brothers are taking care of this matter all on their own. They are clearly conspiring with Zu An," Zhao Si added.
...
As they spoke, even their saliva flew everywhere. Zhao Ruizhi looked at the two in confusion, and after a while, he asked, “Didn’t we already talk about this in the court session? Linglong and the empress dowager both said that we don’t have enough intelligence from the front lines and that it’s too early to make a decision. Do you have anything else to report on? If not, I’m going to play grasshopper.”
Zhao Si and Zhao Tai were both stunned. They hadn’t expected that their vigorous voices and expressions wouldn’t bring about the slightest bit of interest from him. They knew that if they couldn't get the results they wanted today, then the next day, many heads would tumble, including their own.
The two of them gritted their teeth and said, “The empress dowager is from the Liu clan, so of course she would speak up for them.”
“The empress, the empress is...”
“What about Linglong?” Zhao Ruizhi suddenly raised his head and stared right at the two. Other people were one thing, but Bi Linglong was his Achilles heel. After all these years, he already thought of her as his most important person.
When they saw his reaction, the two were frightened. They couldn't find any suitable excuses either and became silent as a result.
“If there’s nothing else, then beat it!” Zhao Ruizhi exclaimed, now in a bad mood. As if he cared that they were his uncles! Either way, there were so many members of the royal family. These two weren’t important people either. Linglong would tell him about everything important anyway.
Just then, Li Guanshi spoke up from the doorway. “The empress might be speaking that way on purpose to help absolve the regent.”
Zhao Si and Zhao Tai immediately widened their eyes.
This guy really said it out loud! Sure enough, Zhao Ruizhi was furious. He stared at Li Guanshi and asked, “What did you say?” Even though he normally acted like an idiot, there seemed to be killing intent in his eyes now.
Li Guanshi said hesitantly, “The empress seems to be too close to the regent. Furthermore, her highness clearly treats the regent differently from other men.”
“You’re speaking nonsense!” Zhao Ruizhi immediately panicked, making his fat jiggle.
Li Guanshi sighed and said, “Your highness, think about it carefully. Her highness never allows any man into her chambers, including your distinguished self. However, the regent can enter directly without any obstruction.”
Now, even Zhao Si and Zhao Tai’s breathing quickened. They seemed to have heard some explosive gossip today! Even though the two of them were both palace guard commanders and had heard some rumors here and there, they'd never treated them as a big deal. But now that such a thing was confirmed by someone at the emperor’s side, it carried an entirely different meaning.
“That's because Linglong and the regent have important military secrets to discuss. Linglong told me about that before!” Zhao Ruizhi hurriedly explained.
“But why doesn’t her highness let your majesty into her personal chambers?” Li Guanshi looked at him sympathetically.
“That’s because... because...” Zhao Ruizhi’s face turned entirely red, and he started murmuring inaudible things. He couldn't come up with a good reason even after a long time.
Zhao Si and Zhao Tai were sharp and quickly spoke up.
“That’s right! I seem to recall that when her highness was still the crown princess, there was a scandal with the regent.”
“That’s right. Back then, the late emperor had people examine the crown princess’ purity.”
Zhao Ruizhi seemed to have found his saving grace and quickly said, “That’s right, in the past, the nanny verified Linglong’s purity. Besides, even the late libationer examined Zu An and said that he didn’t lie.”
Zhao Si had a strange smile on his face as he said, “Your highness, nannies can be bribed. Besides, though the late libationer wasn’t someone who would take bribes, what if he intentionally wanted to cover for someone? After all, he had always favored Zu An, and he even gave the position of libationer to him. That proves their relationship was special!”
“Shut up, shut up!” Zhao Ruizhi threw the teacup in his hands at the two of them. “You're just guessing and coming up with nonsense. Linglong is so good to me, and the regent has even saved me several times. There's no reason for the two of them to do anything to let me down!”
“Who says they didn’t?” Zhao Si quickly added, “That Zu An might very well be the grandson of the previous dynasty. Even though it's just a rumor, there's no smoke without fire. He might harbor a deeply rooted grudge and wants to overthrow our Great Zhou Dynasty!”
Zhao Ruizhi’s face turned completely dark. He wasn’t a complete idiot and could still discern between simple good and bad. If the regent really had such an identity, that would indeed be a good enough motive for a rebellion.
Just then, Li Guanshi also spoke up. “As for her highness the empress dowager, she naturally carries deep loyalty for his majesty, but the regent is just too strong. Even his majesty’s brothers were killed on a whim, and King Dai was crippled just like that. Her highness might have done this to protect you, making her cater to the regent despite her best wishes.”
“What?!” Zhao Ruizhi suddenly got up and pointed at him. His entire body started shaking because of his extreme anger.
Li Guanshi added more fuel to the fire, asking, “Your majesty, do you still remember that one time, the regent entered the empress’s personal chambers, and yet your majesty was stopped outside and couldn't go in? In the end, the regent stayed for many hours before coming back out again.”
“Stop talking!” Zhao Ruizhi covered his ears with his hands. His chubby face was in extreme pain. These things were definitely weird; now that they were speaking about it, he was gradually starting to pick up on the strangeness.
“Take care of yourself and endure, your majesty. A small mistake can lead to a great disaster! You could be letting down her highness despite the sacrifice she made for you,” Li Guanshi said in consolation.
“You son of a bitch!” Zhao Ruizhi smashed the chair next to him to pieces with a stomp. “Endure, endure, endure your mom! Guards, chop those rebels and traitors into ten thousand pieces for me!”
“The traitors are extremely ferocious. How can your majesty’s important self personally do these things? Just leave it to your subjects; only, we’ll need your majesty to write an imperial order for us,” Zhao Si and Zhao Tai hurriedly said.
When he recalled Zu An’s violent side, Zhao Ruizhi couldn't help but swallow with difficulty. He said, “I agree with what you said, but I need to gather my ministers to write an imperial order...”
Before he even finished, Zhao Si already took out an imperial edict from his inner pocket and said, “Don’t worry, your majesty! The imperial order has already been prepared by this loyal subject of yours. We just need your majesty to apply the official seal.”
“Perfect!” Zhao Ruizhi was overjoyed. He didn’t think about why an imperial order had already been prepared at all. He took the imperial order, and applied the official seal without even giving it a single look. The only thing in his head right now was the desire to kill that despicable Zu An. How could he still bother with anything else?
Normally, it was always Linglong who took care of various government affairs in the Imperial Palace. But out of respect for his title as the emperor, she normally returned the jade ruler’s seal to Zhao Ruizhi at night and asked for it back the next morning. She had never expected others to seize this opportunity at night to do something crazy like this!
...
When they left the emperor’s personal chambers, Zhao Si and Zhao Tai were incredibly happy. “Thank goodness we have Official Li’s help. Otherwise, our plan might have failed at the last moment.”
“I wonder who that Official Li is working under. Why would he help us? There’s no way that he really is loyal to the emperor and is only doing this out of righteous indignation, right?” “Of course not. He's a palace official, so he might be a subordinate of King Guangling, Zhao Yuan. But that’s hard to say too. He might be a spy planted by some other bigwig who was of decisive use today.”
“Do you think that what he said about Zu An and the empress is true?”
“The stupid emperor believed it, but even you’re believing it? Do you know what kind of a person the empress is? She's always been a well-bred young lady, someone who was meant to be the mother of this world. How could she possibly do something like that?”
“I guess you’re right. That Official Li really is vicious. He actually thought up such a terrible scheme.”
“Thank goodness he’s on our side.”
...
In another small courtyard, there was a room with no lights. However, there was a group of people sitting inside, waiting without speaking a single word. The atmosphere was extremely suffocating and quiet. Many of them had fine sweat on their foreheads. After all, their plot was incredibly huge. If they failed, the punishment would be the eradication of their entire clan! Even though everyone here had braved their fair share of major events, they were still extremely nervous.
Just then, the door was pushed open, and someone sent in a rolled object. The yellow luster made the eyes of everyone inside light up.
The one in the lead was none other than the father of the current empress, the Bi clan’s lord, Bi Qi. He received the imperial order and gave it a look. Then, he roared with laughter, exclaiming, “We’ve already half succeeded! From here on out, everyone just needs to act according to the plan!”
“Understood!” Everyone got up and left. If anyone else were present to see this scene, they would definitely be really shocked, because every single member was an influential figure of the capital.
...
In the capital’s Pei manor, there was a lively feast being carried out in a side courtyard. Two young men were drinking and chatting merrily with their arms around each other.
“Brother Pei, which one of your Pei clan’s ladies is rather outstanding? Can you introduce some to your brothers here?”
“Brother Gao, you really forget loyalty when it comes to women! We invited you so many times before, and yet you’ve always avoided us! But this time, when the Pei clan said that they wished to be connected to you through marriage, you immediately showed up!”
These two were, surprisingly, Gao Ying and Pei You. After Cloudcenter Commandery’s affairs stabilized, they had been summoned back to the capital by their respective clans. It was a pity that they'd ended up missing a chance to reunite with Zu An.
“It’s not as if you don’t know. I’m currently in charge of the Imperial Palace’s safety and have heavy responsibilities. It wasn’t easy to ask for a day off,” Gao Ying said with a bitter smile.
“Tsk tsk tsk, I guess we ended up giving you an opportunity to show off. I almost forgot to congratulate you for being promoted to Right Guard General!” Pei You said with a laugh.
“It’s not as if you didn’t know that I was only able to reach this level through connections. How could I possibly convince everyone while still being so young? That’s why I always find myself skating on thin ice and couldn't find time to meet with the brothers here all this time. I’ll drink three cups as a punishment,” Gao Ying said, feeling quite hard-pressed. He took the initiative to drink three cups.
The Liu clan’s authority was flourishing, and Gao Ying was the son of a daughter of the Liu clan, so that was why he had been placed in a position with authority.
Pei You couldn't help but sigh. He drank with Gao Ying and said, “Only we know that this is really what you think. If it were anyone else, we would’ve thought that they were using this chance to show off even more. Still, don’t undervalue yourself. Your cultivation has advanced really quickly recently, and you already reached the ninth rank. Apart from your young age, that's already enough to hold your current position.”
Gao Ying said in annoyance, “It’s not as if you don’t know where my ninth rank cultivation comes from. It’s all through the Liu clan’s endless funneling of resources. To be honest, I feel as if I’ve advanced too quickly and my foundation might not be stable enough, which might cause trouble down the line.”
“Tsk tsk tsk, look at you boasting again. Here I am wishing that the Pei clan would give me that many resources to make me outstanding too.” Pei You was a bit upset. His status in the Pei clan was clearly not as high as Gao Ying’s in the Liu clan.
Gao Ying realized that he had crossed the line a bit too. He put his arm around Pei You's shoulder and said, “Let’s not talk about these things anymore. Help a brother out a bit here, won’t ya? Just which young miss is it that wishes to marry me?”
The beauty of the Pei clan’s women was well known. For example, Pei Mianman had left him speechless from the first moment he saw her. Of course, she was brother Zu’s woman, so he wouldn’t dare to have any other thoughts. He only wished for this Pei clan girl to have sixty to seventy percent of Pei Mianman's looks and that would be enough.
Pei You said awkwardly, “Actually, I don’t really know either. It was my father who told me. I don’t know which daughter the older generation has decided on. But today, there's no need for you to agree at all. Let’s just take a look first. Your brother here will secretly ask around for you before you make a decision.”
Gao Ying was really happy, saying, “A true brother!”
The two of them drank merrily. Additionally, the others from the Pei clan urged them to drink from time to time, so the drinking was really lively.
Suddenly, a woman on the woven mats spoke up. “Huh? Why has the sky become a bit red?”
Gao Ying glanced over and reflexively replied, “Maybe some unlucky clan caught fire? Let me think, which clan is in that direction...”
Suddenly, his eyes opened wide. He broke out into cold sweat, because that was the Imperial Palace’s direction. There were no other residences nearby. He exclaimed, “Cloud Dragon Gate!”
As the Right Guard General, he was now really familiar with the Imperial Palace’s layout and topography. He immediately realized where the fires were coming from. Cloud Dragon Gate was one of the Imperial Palace’s two most important palace gates!
He could no longer sit still. He got up and was about to leave, but as soon as he stood up, he felt a wave of dizziness and almost fell. He cried out, “Something’s wrong. The alcohol is poisoned!”